This is NOT a USA only issue. A propellant is used by several global manufacturers using global designs since it is cheap and allows them to continue to work under the constant cost pressure of the OEMs. Some manufacturers have even gone to China in search of cheap propellant. Make no mistake, just because your car manufacturer is not on the list, doesn't mean it isn't a risk.

This entire "humid regions" thing is silly. Please draw me boundary lines on a map of the US where it magically "stops being humid." You can't. Yes, a few US states are pretty arid, but how do you track where every airbag has been living over its entire life? You can't....

This is because Takata suspects that humidity is an issue. The fact of the matter is, Takata can only make so many replacements and they really don't know what the problem is. Honda has sourced other manufacurers to make replacements, but again they can only make so many. The real reason was told by Takata this week. Unfornotely they are still using this in new cars.

The chemical, ammonium nitrate, "appears to be one of the factors" contributing to inflator ruptures linked to six deaths and hundreds of injuries, Kevin Kennedy, executive vice president of Takata subsidiary TK Holdings, said.

I just got my exploding Takata airbag replaced in my 2003 Honda Pilot and was told by the service adviser that this replacement part was not released yet (Ontario Canada, Nov 2014) so here is a step by step list of what I did to get the part so that my car doesn't shoot shrapnel into my girlfriends face.

For those who don't know Honda has recalled lots of there cars for this, the list will probably grow so I won't try to post the current list. This recall is for either the drivers, passengers or both front airbags. The issue is that the charge that inflates the airbag is too powerful and when ignited can shoot a piece of metal through the airbag and into the face or neck of the driver/passenger. From what I understand there have been both injury's and fatality from this dating back to 2004.

So here is what I did leaving out some of the finer details of how awful Honda was to deal with at both the national and dealer level:

I called the number on my recall notice (1-888-9HONDA9) to find out more about what could happen and how to get my car fixed. Of course the Honda guy lied to me and told me something could bounce off the windshield and then hit the passengers legs, which is not true as I mentioned above, it shoots metal directly at their face. Moving on. I was told not to use my passenger seat, the parts were not available, I could get on a list and I was assured it was ridiculous to think Honda should supply a rental car for me to use in the mean time. I was told however that I would be put in a list of people who wanted special exceptions and that someone would contact me, but no one ever did.

I called my Dealership (Sterling Honda) and got on a list.

A couple months passed...

Then I happened to be watching CNBC during the US Congressional hearing where the "Executive vice president of Honda North America" said they were providing rental cars to affected customers, he made no reference to this being for a specific region.

So I called up Honda Canada again. The number again is 1-888-9HONDA9

I informed the guy on the phone what I just witnessed live on CNBC. Like I was the idiot he informed me that CNBC was an American station. I, in turn, reminded him that Canada is part of North America. He went off to check with his supervisor (who doesn't take calls) then came back and told me that nothing has changed in Canada (perhaps our elected representatives need to sit down the leaders of Honda too). After some banter about how Honda was ignoring the safety of its Canadian customers and a promise to call my local MP (which I made good on) I was told he could make a special request, after questioning this I was told in a round about way that by making enough noise you could get a part faster than everyone else who was waiting in line. So after ensuring that I would in fact be contacted I was told I would get a call within 24 hours with either a rental car or a part.

I got a call the next day telling me a part had already been shipped to my local dealership and to make an appointment. The part was installed 2 business days later.

I would encourage anyone who is concerned about their air bag to call the number I provided above, remind the person on the phone what the "Executive vice president of Honda North America" said on CNBC and that he did not exclude Canada (not that it should matter, Americans are getting parts and rentals because that's whats right so Canadians should too) And that you want a part or a rental car (could not find clip on Youtube but I saw it live and I got a part. If you can find the whole hearing it is right near the beginning). I would also encourage everyone affected to contact their local MP.

If you found this helpful please share it where ever you think it will be helpful to someone.

Chances are they -are- defective - in the long run. Specifically, from what I've heard, the airbag chemicals degrade, due to improper manufacturing deficiencies; these, over time, turn a normally functioning airbag, into a death trap. That's probably why the others aren't covered.

That's right Zack the replacement airbags are defective too. The NHTSA reported all Takata airbags will have to be replaced eventually. Takata agreed to faze out using ammonium nitrate w the NHTSA but until then your new car may have another defective airbags.

Takata Corp will "rapidly" reduce production of a volatile chemical that has been linked to ruptured air bag inflators, a company executive told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday.

The chemical, ammonium nitrate, "appears to be one of the factors" contributing to inflator ruptures linked to six deaths and hundreds of injuries, Kevin Kennedy, executive vice president of Takata subsidiary TK Holdings, said.

Kennedy told a House subcommittee that Takata has "alternate propellants now with guanidine nitrate. We started production a year or two ago, and we’re continuing to ramp those up. I think overall you will see our production of ammonium nitrate go down rapidly."

Takata is the only major air bag manufacturer using ammonium nitrate as an air bag propellant. Kennedy said Takata plans to continue using ammonium nitrate, including a newer version of the compound that does not react as violently to moisture.